Anderson CountySeal coat operations will be taking place at the following locations:

Anderson County construction projects updates:

US 79 Super 2 Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue work on final cleanup. Project consists of widening for a Super 2, including sub-grade work, surface treatment, base and surface hot mix asphalt, widening structures, bridge rail, MBGF, signage and permanent striping.

SH 155 Overlay Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on driveways and drainage structures on SH 155 in Anderson County. The speed limit is scheduled to be reduced to 60 mph throughout the project limits. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. It consists of OCST, PFC surface, shoulder texturing, edge treatment and pavement markings.

SH 175 Widening Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on drainage structures on US 175. Motorists should use caution when traveling through the project and expect lane closures and delays. Project consists of grading, subbase work, HMAC, drainage, structures, pavement markings and signing.

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Cherokee CountyJacksonville and Rusk crews will be removing encroachments and repairing potholes in various locations throughout the county.

Also, striping operations will take place at the following locations:

Cherokee County construction projects updates:

SH 204 Super-2 Widening Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project adds passing lanes and incorporates safety upgrades.

US 84 Widening

The contractor is scheduled to fill pavement edges and temporary seeding. Lane closures will be in place. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. The project will widen and resurface the roadway, along with adding safety upgrades.

FM 22 Safety Widening and Bridge Replacement Project

The contractor is scheduled to begin paving the final surface. Lane closures are anticipated. The bridge is now open to traffic. The project will widen the existing roadway, replace three bridges and incorporate safety upgrades.

SH 21 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue road work construction on driveway upgrades and structure extensions. No lane closures are expected. The project will consist of pavement resurfacing.

SH 135 Bridge Replacements

The contractor has placed message boards to inform the public. The project will begin Sept. 6. All birds have finished nesting. The project consists of the replacement of the bridge at Mud Creek and Mud Creek Relief.

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Gregg CountyLongview maintenance will be clearing trees from the right-of-way on FM 1845 and FM 3053. Crews will also be cutting high edges on FM 2207, from FM 1252 to SH 135 N. Expect flaggers controlling traffic.

Gregg County construction projects updates:

SH 135 Kilgore Traffic Circle

This project consists of completely rebuilding the traffic circle and full width of roadway to the Rusk County line. It will consist of removing existing concrete paving, reconstructing subgrade, constructing concrete paving, storm sewer installation, lighting, and striping. The traffic will be reduced to one lane in the southbound direction for the duration of the project. A detour will be set up for northbound traffic to follow SH 42. This will allow the contractor to build half of the roadway. Traffic will be switched to the newly constructed lanes later to allow completion of the other half of the highway. Expect delays.

SLP 281 Mill and Inlay

The project consists of performing mill and inlay all lanes with hot mix in both directions, including the center turn lane. Work will be performed at night. There will be alternating lane closures. Expect delays. Estimated completion is August 2022.

Spur 63/McCann Road Bridge Project

This project is part of the City of Longview Guthrie Creek Trail project. It will consist of building a bridge over Guthrie Creek to allow bicyclist and pedestrians to travel under Spur 63. The traffic will be reduced to two lanes, one northbound lane and one south bound lane to allow the contractor to build half of the bridge. Traffic will be switched later to allow completion of the bridge construction. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, new bridge, flexible base, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

FM 2206/Harrison Road

This project consists of widening a two-lane road to four lanes with a center turn lane. This includes drainage structures, flexible base, curb and gutter, sidewalks, hot mix and pavement markings. Contractor will be extending culverts and constructing detours. There will be daytime lane closures. Expect delays.

Pentecost Rd. Bridge Replacement

The project consists of replacing the bridge structure on Big Head Creek. Pentecost Road will be closed to through traffic. Only local traffic will be allowed. Through traffic needs to select an alternate route.

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Henderson CountyAthens maintenance is scheduled to repair edges and patch potholes on various roads throughout the county. This will be a slow-moving operation using a TMA. Expect delays.

Henderson County construction projects updates:

SH 198 Bridge Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on the new northbound bridge and roadway elements. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The speed limit has been reduced to 50 mph throughout the project. The project consists of the construction of replacing bridges, approaches, grading, structures, asphalt concrete pavement (ACP) base, ACP surface, retaining walls, curb & gutter, MBGF, and pavement markings.

BUS 175 Safety Improvement Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on roadway elements. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes traffic signals, curb ramps and pavement markings.

Texas Parks & Wildlife Resurface Project

The contractor is scheduled to work on the final cleanup of the parking areas in the fishery and intersection with FM 2495 in Henderson County. The project consists of OCST and pavement markings.

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Rusk CountyCrews will be digging various ditches and cleaning culverts in various locations throughout the county. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic. A second crew will be performing edging on US 259. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic.

Also, striping operations will be taking place at these locations:

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Smith CountyTyler Maintenance will be performing ditch maintenance in various locations throughout the county. Expect lane closures with flaggers controlling traffic. A sweeper and herbicide unit will also be in various locations throughout the county.

Smith County construction projects updates:

Sidewalks at Various Locations in Smith County

The contractor is scheduled to complete punch list items. Lane closures are anticipated. The project consists of sidewalk construction along SH 64 west in Tyler, SH 110 west in Troup and SH 135 north in Troup.

FM 344, etc., Safety Improvements

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of improving drainage, culvert work, and guardrail upgrades.

SH 155 Resurfacing Project

The contractor is scheduled to continue seal coat. Anticipate lane closures while work is in progress. When in progress, hours will be from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., Sunday through Thursday nights. Expect delays. The project will resurface the roadway, upgrade drainage structures, and repair bridge joints.

SH 64 Bridge Maintenance

The contractor is scheduled to complete punch list items. Lane closures are anticipated. The project consists of bridge maintenance and repair.

Tyler State Park Bridge and Resurfacing Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of bridge and pavement resurfacing.

SH 110 & FM 346 Landscape Project

No work is scheduled this week. The project consists of landscape development.

Whittle Street, CR 2110 and CR 289 Bridge Replacement Project

The contractor is scheduled to begin construction on Whittle Street at West Mud Creek Tributary. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

The contractor is scheduled to continue construction on the CR 2110 bridge at Kickapoo Creek. The road is closed to through traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure.

No work is scheduled this week on the CR 289 bridge at Prairie Creek. The road is open to traffic. The project replaces the existing bridge with a new structure. The contractor will complete one bridge at a time.

IH 20 Mill and Inlay

No work is scheduled this week. When in progress, work will be done at night, Sundays from 9 PM to 5 AM and Monday-Thursday 8 PM to 5 AM. Expect delays on this corridor when construction is in progress. Project consists of an overlay with TBPFC surface, ACP surface, planing, shoulder texturing and pavement markings.

US 271 Rehab, Turn Lanes, and Pavement Overlay

Crews will be paving shoulder level-up on the southbound inside lane and rehabbing southbound left-turn lane. Traffic control will consist of daily southbound inside lane closures managed by signs and channelizing devices. The project consists of paving, structures, MBGF, and pavement markings from I-20 north to the Gregg County line. The portion from I-20 to FM 16 also includes turn lanes and pavement rehabilitation.

IH 20 at Barber Road

This project consists of widening on ramps and exit ramps, culverts, drainage upgrades, new metal beam guard fence and bridge rails on the Barber Road overpass, and asphalt overlay. No work this week on this project.

Safety Improvement Project (Van Zandt, Anderson, Smith and Henderson County)

The contractor is scheduled to continue final cleanup on FM 850 in Smith County. Motorists should be prepared for lane closures and delays. The project includes grading, structure work, guard rail replacement and bridge rail upgrades.

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Van Zandt County

Van Zandt County construction projects updates:

I-20 MBGF Improvements (Van Zandt, Smith, and Gregg counties)

Crews will be addressing final punch list items. This project is to construct safety improvements consisting of upgrading metal beam guard fence and mow strip.

SH 19 Super Two Widening & Overlay (South of Canton)

Crews will be laying hot mix on the NB super two lane. Traffic control will consist of a daily northbound shoulder closure managed by flaggers and a pilot car. The project consists of Super 2 work including grading, base repair, treated subgrade, flex base, OCST, PFC surface, structures, signs and pavement markings.

SH 19 Super Two Widening & Overlay (North of US 80)

Crews will be extending drainage structures. Traffic control will consist of a northbound shoulder closure managed by channelizing devices. The project consists of Super 2 work including grading, base repair, treated subgrade, flex base, OCST, PFC surface, structures, signs and pavement markings.

CR 2918, etc. Bridge Replacements

Contractor will be addressing punch list items. All bridges are open to traffic and near final completion. Minimal impact to the traveling public is anticipated. The project consists of removing and replacing four bridges.

IH 20 Mill and Inlay

The project consists of milling and inlaying hot mix on various frontage roads in the area. Estimated completion is August 2022.

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Wood CountyMaintenance crews are scheduled to perform hot mix overlay on SH 11 east of Winnsboro. Expect one lane closure with flaggers and a pilot vehicle controlling traffic. Delays are expected.

Wood County construction projects updates:

SH 37 Road Widening and PFC Overlay

Crews will be paving shoulder level-up northbound and southbound. Traffic control will consist of daily shoulder closures managed by flaggers and a pilot car. The project consists of base repair, level-up, spray paver, permeable friction course surface, structures, bridge rail, metal beam guard fence, and pavement markings.

FM 2088, etc. MBGF Improvements in Wood County

Crews will be replacing MBGF on FM 514 and placing concrete mowstrip at four locations on FM 2966. They also will be placing mowstrip at three locations on FM 17. Traffic control will consist of daily lane closures managed with flaggers. The project is for bridge maintenance consisting of MBGF and bridge retrofit rail.

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I-20 Total Maintenance Contract

Read this article:
TxDOT Project Updates for the Week of Aug. 29, 2022 - Texas Department of Transportation

Seeding grass is a useful technique for getting a healthy lawn. Lawn aeration is an essential part of lawn health as well. Combine the two and youll get a combination that works together to produce a lawn that will be the envy of the neighborhood.

When soil becomes compacted, the lawn struggles to take in oxygen, water, and critical nutrients needed to grow properly. A well-aerated lawn, on the other hand, gives fresh seeds a better chance to absorb nutrients and develop stronger roots. In the same way that farmer plows and turns over a field every year, your lawn needs to have the soil conditions enhanced through aeration.

Contact your local Lawn Doctor to learn about how your lawn could benefit from combining lawn seeding with lawn aeration services. Lawn Doctor offers core aeration, which when coupled with seeding can multiply the effectiveness of lawn maintenance and let your grass grow thicker and greener than ever.

See the article here:
Power Seeding for Lawn Grass | Lawn Doctor

Scotts Turf Builder Triple Action Built For Seeding is formulated to help grow new grass and control against weeds while feeding and strengthening grass. Now you don't have to choose how to best care for your lawnyou can maximize growth with one application. Jump start grass seed development so it establishes quicker and thicker, whether you are starting a fresh new lawn or reseeding an existing lawn. Protect your lawn against annoying and bothersome crabgrass, dandelions and other pesky weeds for up to 6 weeks without harming your new grass. It also feeds and strengthens your new grass to protect it against heat and drought.

For best results to grow grass fast apply with Scotts spreader to dry lawn, then water to activate. Works with most grasses including Kentucky bluegrass, tall fescue, perennial ryegrass and centipedegrass. One 17.2-lb. bag covers up to 4,000 sq. ft. New weeds will sprout white or turn white and quickly die. This product does not contain grass seed, and it will not kill existing weeds.

Pro Tips:

See the article here:
Scotts Turf Builder Triple Action Built For Seeding | Scotts

We're often asked "Can I sow wildflower seed onto grass?" Generally customers have an existing lawn or pasture which they want to enhance. The short answer is it may well not work.

You'll more often than not have a better chance of establishing a wildflower meadow area if you start from scratch. On the other hand sometimes - if the lawn has been converted from old pasture, for example - people are amazed by the wildflowers which appear if they just leave it unmown over the summer.

It's not ALWAYS impossible to successfully oversow if you take that route, but that depends on several things.

If you have fertile soil, over time grasses or - if not managed - pernicious weeds - will overwhelm the wildflowers you are trying to establish. Even if you start with bare earth it's a problem, so if the grass is already there it's doubly difficult. It's not that wildflowers don't like fertile soils; they just don't respond to higher nutrient levels in the same way that grass or plants like dock or nettle will do.

If you're not sure how fertile your soil is - or whether it's alkaline or acidic - you can get a soil test done.

Grass is so successful because it grows fast and has a tendency to thatch, blocking out any competition. Some grasses are particularly thuggish. Particular favourites of lawn mixes are cultivars of Lolium perenne, Perennial rye grass.

Photo: Wildlife Trusts

If you're looking at a sea of these kind ofspikeletsin summer, then forget converting your lawn to a wildflower meadow! No amount of careful preparation or parasitic plants (see below) is going to work, I'm afraid. You may have some initial success, but within a couple of years you'll be looking at a lot of ryegrass again. There are other aggressive coarser grasses too, but PRG is the main offender as cultivars are always an important constituent of lawn or grazing mixes.

On the other hand, when you have a careful look at your grass you may be pleasantly surprised. People often find that they have a range of wildflowers they haven't noticed, or which just haven't had a chance to get going. Following the advice below will help them do so.

So, you have a promising site with what looks like fine grasses. What do you do to prepare it for overseeding with a wildflower seed mix?

You need to really beat up the existing grass, to the extent that you can see up to 50% earth. You need to do this through a combination of scarifying and cutting. To break up the thatch of the existing grass, first cut it. Then use a chain harrow to larger sites, or for a garden a scarifier, spring rake or hand cultivator. Once you've done that, cut it again - really short. If you're lucky enough to have livestock, do the cutting with them!

You're trying to create gaps large enough for the slow germinating and growing wildflowers to establish before they're overwhelmed by faster growing grass. You may even feel you need to clear small patches completely to give them as good a chance as possible.

If you then decide to add some wildflower seed, source it from a reputable supplierand always check that not only does it include appropriate native species, but that the seed originates in the UK. "Wildflowers" can apparently mean different things to different suppliers! They need to be recently harvested and stored properly too. Although a wildflower only seed mix will cost a lot more than a meadow mix (i.e. including grasses) you won't need much of it; reckon on something around 1g per square metre.

If you're sowing in late summer - autumn (the optimal time), then it's helpful if your mix includes Yellow Rattle, Rhinanthus minor. If it doesn't, then it's probably worth buying a little to add. If sowing in spring, add it the following September ayway as the seed has limited viability.

You could at this point - particularly if you have a small area - decide it's all too much and pop some plug plants in instead. They're more expensive and you'll get less diversity, but they're definitely an option. Reckon on 5 per square metre, so a single one of these trays will cover 25 square metres.

...is simple. The seeding rate is so low - reckon on around 1g per square metre - that you'll need to mix your seed mix with some peat free compost or sand to make sure you don't run out of expensive ammunition half way through sowing. The ratio of inert carrier to seed doesn't matter.

If you're seeding a large area, mark it out into squares with canes. If you have a square 5mX5m you know you will need around 25g of seed for that area.

Scatter evenly across the area you want to seed. Do two passes if you can, one left to right and the other front to back.

Once seeded, if its practical, give the area a light role to make sure the seed is in good contact with the earth.

If you can bear it, keep the newly seeded area cut for 6 months after seeding, to around 3cm. This will help keep the grass from overwhelming the seedling wildflowers. The exception to this is if your wildflower seed included cornfield annuals like poppies, in which case let them flower before cutting.

This regime will also help control weeds, but if you see plants like dock appearing then have them out!

Success!

Originally posted here:
Sowing Wildflower Seed Onto Grass | Habitat Aid

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) With little change in southeastern Nebraskas drought despite some rain, lawns are hurting.

The time to invest in your lawn is now, according to the Nebraska Extension office in Lancaster County.

Temperatures largely influence how the grasses here grow, controlling when you should seed and fertilize.

Now through Sept. 15, both Kentucky bluegrass and tall fescue grow better as air and soil temperatures cool down. There is better root growth and new seedlings get off to a better start.

We have cooler temperatures and hopefully more rain which allow for better root development on those new grass plants, said Sarah Browning, an educator at Nebraska Extension. Fall is also a time when we have less weed pressure, so we dont have to fight the weeds quite as bad as you do with the spring seeding.

When it comes to overseed and patch areas, there are steps to ready the soil before putting down any product.

Before you overseed, always dethatch the lawn, said Christian Burbach, owner of Black Label Property Services. Dethatching is a process where youll scrape up the dead grass thats been accumulating over the summers, years, however long. Especially if you are not bagging your grass, youre going to want to dethatch almost on a yearly basis. This makes sure that youre not going to have a bunch of dead spots on your yard from all that dead grass accumulating.

After dethatching, professionals then encourage aerating your yard for the nutrients and oxygen it will provide the soil.

When you are ready to then overseed, buy the high-quality blue tag seed for your yard.

Once the seed is set, the area needs to be watered two to four times a day during the first two weeks, depending on temperatures.

As the grass approaches mowing height, you can slow down the number of times you water.

And mowing should start as soon as possible.

People dont want to wait and allow the grass seedlings to get tall before they start to mow, Browning said. They want to stick with their normal mowing schedule and start mowing those seedlings as quickly as possible to help them develop maturity.

Experts say getting your seeding done as early as possible is important because each week of delay means two to four additional weeks the grass will need to mature in the fall.

See more here:
Dethatch, aerate, seed: Nebraska Extension says the time for lawn care is now - KLKN

Clear-cutting trees to make it easier to raise cattle in the Midwest eliminated much of the landscape known as Midwest Savanna, but an experimental farm in southern Missouri is trying to prove that grazing animals in forests is better for the environment, farmers, and the cows.

Midwest Savannas typically had many trees, but they were far apart, providing shade but also enough sunlight and space for native grasses to grow on the forest floor.

That habitat was created intentionally by a lot of indigenous communities that lived here, said Ashley Conway-Anderson, an agroforestry professor at the University of Missouri. Intentionally managed with fire, and then once fire opened things up, what came next was grass and what came next was large grazing herbivores.

Those herbivores were bison and elk 500 years ago, but Conway-Anderson said they could be cows today. Shes leading a multi-year study at the University of Missouris Wurdak Extension and Education Center, about 30 miles southeast of Rolla, to first thin out the forest areas, get native grasses growing and bring in cows to graze.

When Europeans came to the Americas, it started a pattern of forests either being overplanted, unmanaged, or clear-cut to make way for pastures or fields for crops.

The practice of returning to more natural efforts of grazing livestock in the forest is called silvopasture, and it's a very old way of raising animals.

While there isnt anything new about the practice, Conway-Andersons research is getting more attention because healthy forests can be a critical part of combating climate change.

Trees are good at keeping carbon out of the atmosphere and are also resilient in the face of extreme weather caused by climate change.

When we do have floods, when we do have droughts and fires, it wont be wholesale destruction. It will be able to recover much more quickly and maintain functionality longer when it experiences those inevitable challenges, Conway-Anderson said.

Her goal is to get the data and create an example to help farmers move their cattle from open fields into forests.

Jonathan Ahl / Harvest Public Media

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It could be a short trip, she said, because so many want to, and some already are, like Iowa farmer Bruce Carney, who raises cattle on his family farm north of Des Moines.

More than 10 years ago, he decided to convert 200 acres from corn and soybeans fields to land for cattle to graze.

What I learned after seeding a crop farm down was that I needed trees. I needed windbreaks. I needed shade. I needed a living barn. To me, thats what trees do for you, Carney said.

Carney said trees make cows happier, healthier and bring in more money when they are sold. He is cited as a success story of silvopasture development, but Carney eschews the label.

Im not a silvopasture expert, Carney said, Im just a guy who planted trees. And Id like to do more.

The kind of research going on at the University of Missouri could help him and other farmers do that by developing best practices and plans to make forest grazing work.

Another benefit of the movement is that it can make small farms more viable by increasing the amount of money they bring in.

By its very nature, silvopasture is intentional and intensive, so it allows for us to do more on one piece of land, said Kaitie Adams, the Illinois Community Agroforester for the Wisconsin-based Savanna Institute.

You can grow food like apples or walnuts, have a timber business and graze cattle all on one reasonably sized piece of land, Adams said. And with farmland prices skyrocketing, that makes it more possible for new, younger people to get into farming.

There are a lot of challenges to making a go of having cattle graze in forests, including the time it takes for trees to grow, the inefficiency of raising cattle that graze as opposed to producing them in a factory farm, and the time and effort required to manage a forest properly.

Conway-Anderson and other advocates believe its worth it, and are optimistic that they can prove it.

I want to get more people thinking about this as a viable possibility. Because even if everybody does this on 40 acres that they have, thats a huge amount that can add to this mosaic and help rebuild the tapestry of savanna landscape that once was here, Conway-Anderson said.

Silvopasture proponents are also banking on the increased need for such measures, as climate change puts pressure on agriculture to come up with solutions in the coming years.

Link:
Getting cattle into the forest could help climate change, farmers and the livestock - KOSU

Dyers chamomile, self-heal, vipers bugloss, goldenrod, hares bell, maiden pink, old mans beard, ladys bedstraw: some of the old names of the wild flowers in the new summerhouse meadow.

Rampant, thigh-high now in just a few weeks; sunlit grass-seed-coloured blond as Henris hair. It takes a couple of hours to acclimatise but with a little discreet tidying at the edges, a path or two cut through, we walk around in wonder. Flower vases throughout the house bringing the outside in.

The bird cherries are in full glory the small, sweet black fruit preferred by us; a more bitter translucent scarlet favoured by the flights of birds who ferry them to their nests.

The newly sown Serifos poppies, red as old soldiers tunics, have taken. The once-blue bed is already a mass of exuberant competing colour, vivid pinks and oranges. Calendula and nasturtium join the seeding phacelia, the cornflowers and borage. Others I have to ask my old Collins illustrated book and PlantNet about.

The ripe redcurrants will add sharpness to sweet local strawberries. The blackcurrants will be saved for Inas soft jam. The revelations, though, are the apple tree, almost barren last year, and the younger espalier pears.

Everything appears to have benefited from the stinking sack of organic manure I widely spread, to Henris distress. The trees are heavy with too many fruit so I cull through carefully.

I trim a few ground-hugging branches at the base of the towering larch and red pine to let air and occasional rain through. Mostly though we are here to mooch, to sit and eat outside, read newspapers, perhaps even a novel. Less so, our emails and phones.

We walk about in the mornings and evenings, consult the flower and bird apps. We cycle along the waters edge to the good fish shop in the small harbour. We wander to the sea at sunset. We count ourselves fortunate.

Allan Jenkinss Plot 29 (4th Estate, 9.99) is out now. Order it for 8.49 from guardianbookshop.com

Follow this link:
Reaping the rewards of a summer garden - The Guardian

Q: What can I do with my unseeded acres now the weather is more favourable?

A: Flooding and drought at seeding time are common situations that may lead to acres being unseeded to previously planned high-value crops. While crop insurance can provide varying levels of compensation for acres unseeded to long-season cash crops, sometimes opportunities exist to take advantage of later improvement of weather. A common practice in the Prairies is to plant these fields later with cover crops such as annual forages. This provides multiple economic and ecological benefits.

Economic benefits of cover crops include input cost reduction and additional revenue. For example, forage legumes can reduce nitrogen fertilizer expenses for the next crop, potentially increasing net profit over the course of your crop rotation. Furthermore, forages can reduce the need for herbicides by suppressing weeds through their rapid growth.

Additional cash flow can be realized when forages are harvested as greenfeed and silage. On the ecological side, forages can enhance soil health, as living roots provide food and shelter for soil microbes. Forages can also minimize soil erosion and nutrient loss when grasses are included due to the buildup of organic matter via above-ground biomass and fibrous root systems as well as nutrient recycling.

Selecting annual forages as cover crops requires careful considerations and chief among them are the primary goals of your production, species selection and location of your operation. The primary goal of cover cropping annual forages could be as simple as growing feed for grazing and/or silage. Suitable species can be chosen from legumes, grasses and broadleaf plants.

Legumes, in addition to building soil nitrogen levels, increase organic matter, improve soil tilth and serve as hosts to mycorrhizal fungi. Grasses, in addition to minimizing erosion and nutrient loss, can be used for silage/greenfeed and to extend the grazing season either with swath grazing or late-regrowth grazing.

Grass blends may include annual/Italian ryegrass underseeded with oats, barley or triticale. Broadleaf plants, especially the Brassica species, can help to break soil hardpans with their large roots, as well as reduce soil compaction and upcycle nutrients to near the soil surface.

A blend of these species, which includes legumes and Brassica species, may be seeded. A cereal may be used as a nurse crop to provide additional feed.

Optimal seeding rates for annual forage blends will vary depending on the blend used and should be discussed with your local crop advisor.

Sola Ajiboye, PhD, MBA, AIT, is a manager of agronomic solutions for Nutrien Ag Solutions for southern Alberta (North).

Here is the original post:
Economic and ecological benefits of annual forages - Grainews

|

News reporting

News reporting

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

BISMARCK, N.D. Agriculture interests often look with suspicion about aggressive federal environmental goals.

Some rural media critics have warned that Biden Administration's 30 by 30 goal is some kind of land grab, ostensibly adding 30% of America covered by environment-conserving measures by the year 2030, by somehow co-opting conservation programs.

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But professionals delivering conservation policy through the U.S. Department of Agriculture say the 30 by 30 goals for the USDA are more down to earth beefing up the same voluntary programs in which farmers eagerly participate, and for which demand outstrips funding.

I think 30-by-30 is going to require that amount of accountability of what weve done in the past with funds, said Mary Podoll, who has headed the USDAs Natural Resources Conservation Service in North Dakota since 2011. Shes served in the NRCS across several administrations Republican and Democrats and said policies primarily are made by Congress, not whatever administration is in power.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

Farmers regularly use these programs to improve pollution-impaired waters, as well as cutting soil erosion from wind and water. She said Congress controls the programs, which are not subject to presidential whim, by either party.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

She acknowledged farm groups are wary of federal agencies, particularly the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPAs Waters of the United States or "WOTUS" policies, governing navigable waters (and sometimes temporary prairie potholes) have swung back and forth between administrations. Podoll said its important to consider that the NRCS also helps implement EPAs voluntary Section 319 Nonpoint Source Management Program designed to improve water quality. In North Dakota, the EPA funds are matched with the North Dakota

You know that counts, Podoll said, for 30-by-30. That will be part of how the president can say, Were protecting 30% of our nations landscapes with these programs. We could probably already show that the United States is already meeting some of that 30 by 30.'

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

The NRCS already has notified Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack that the agency have and can cover more than 30% of the United States through voluntary programs, Podoll said.

Trent Loos, a regional rural radio and podcast personality, has been one voice warning of a potential federal land grab, and how it could link with conservation programs. Loos, who ranches and lives in the Litchfield/Hazard area of Nebraska, 34 miles north of Kearney, was on former President Donald Trumps agricultural advisory committee.

In podcast interviews, Loos has worried aloud in meetings that government already owns 33% of U.S. land and 30-by-30 means means that the feds want more a total of more than 60%. At the time of the meetings, Loos was the declared running mate of Theresa Thibodeau, a former state senator who was seeking the Republican nomination for governor in the Cornhusker State. The duo placed fourth among Republicans in the May 10, 2022, primary election, with 6% of the party votes.

Podoll acknowledged that three people coming home from Loos presentations had contacted her agency, anxious to cancel their Conservation Stewardship Programs , one of the NRCS popular voluntary programs.

Their worry: that their five-year CSP award somehow could become permanent part of this federal land grab.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

A federal takeover doesnt seem to be much of a worry of Lewis Heaton, a long-time user of the CSP. Heaton and his wife, Sherry, at McKenzie, North Dakota, farm and ranch on about 10,000 acres and raise about 600 head of cattle in a cow-calf operation. About half of the Heaton operation grows crops corn, soybeans and wheat, and some flax.

Lewis, 67, started farming in 1975 after picking up a degree at the North Dakota State College of Science at Wahpeton. He signed his first CSP contract in the 1990s, as the NRCS helped advance him into no-till farming. He started with a no-till corn planter and then bought a no-till air drill.

Mikkel Pates

If you did em you got an incentive payment, Lewis said. If you didnt, you didnt get the payment. And thats about as simple as you get. He was completely no-till in the early 2000s.

After about ten years, he became more interested in grazing system. The Heatons bought another ranch of mostly rangeland and used the CSP to implement grazing plans, now involving about 80 pastures added one or two a year. The rangeland didnt have all of the infrastructure they needed, and they added water and fencing over time.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

CSP has helped, as well as the Environmental Quality Incentive Program.

We tried to do the things that dont cost a lot of money, Lewis said. If you turned one pasture into two by stringing some electric fence, the cost is really minimal, Lewis said. When you have a water source you can split between the two its really a cost-effective way of getting some improvement.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

Lewis first enrolled in what is now called the classic program.

The first thing you have to do is to have something that has incentive for profitability on your ranch, you know, and then we might move into what you can do to meet that, Lewis said, noting rotational grazing, changing season-of-use. There are quite a few things that weve learned over the years that really do help not only your soil health, but is a big benefit for society in general, I would say.

Lewis is a board member for the Prairie Pothole Joint Venture, which fosters partnerships among federal, state, and private partners for wetland and grassland habitat conservation. He is a mentor with the North Dakota Grazing Land Coalition, a group that puts on workshops and pasture tours to foster increased profitability and sustainability in regenerative agriculture.

Asked whether he worries CSP could become some kind of federal land grab, Heaton answered this way: You read a lot of things. Theres a side to everything.

But Lewis acknowledges hes concerned about other things, like not-for-profit groups acquiring land for non-agricultural purposes. He has worries about the EPAs WOTUS policies that swing back and forth between administrations.

It makes people wonder where youre going to end up, he said, noting his farms have streams and drains.

Heatons latest five-year CSP contract expired in 2020. He wasnt eligible to re-enroll at that payment level without adding conservation practices. Hes considering enrolling as a new applicant, under some new environmental practices, possibly in the 2023 growing season.

Mikkel Pates / Agweek

He has some irrigated land and perhaps would apply for an incentive for variable-rate application technology across the whole farm varying the seeding rate according to soil type or whatever the baseline is.

And then your fertilization will be the same way, he said.

He used to have to plant the field corners, where the water didnt hit, separately.

With the variable-rate seeding we just go straight through with the planter and thatll automatically jump the population up and down. Same with the fertilizer, he said. A thumb drive on the tractor or fertilizer spreader would make it simple.

Lewis said he thinks the CSP could translate into carbon sequestration payments, but said it isnt clear how those markets will develop.

The major down side of the CSP is that it requires record-keeping and verifying, Lewis said. His ranch manager deals with field record-keeping on one ranch.

When youre moving cattle, you want to take a picture of the grass from one year to the next, he said. It takes work to verify everything that youre doing.

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Will '30 by 30' be a stewardship boon or a federal 'land grab?' - Agweek

Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG Get Rating) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,800 shares of the basic materials companys stock after buying an additional 5,700 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.18% of Scotts Miracle-Gro worth $12,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 15.6% in the fourth quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 48,889 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $7,888,000 after acquiring an additional 6,613 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 27,490 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $128,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro in the fourth quarter valued at $358,000. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Scotts Miracle-Gro by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 244,997 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $39,444,000 after acquiring an additional 10,219 shares in the last quarter. 62.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

SMG opened at $82.11 on Thursday. The businesss 50-day simple moving average is $82.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.55, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 2.42. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has a one year low of $72.58 and a one year high of $180.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.00 and a beta of 1.24.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 9th. Investors of record on Friday, August 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 25th. Scotts Miracle-Gros dividend payout ratio is currently -54.66%.

SMG has been the topic of several analyst reports. TheStreet cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a c rating to a d+ rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their price target for the company from $130.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and cut their price target for the company from $115.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 22nd. Truist Financial cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the company from $185.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Scotts Miracle-Gro from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Saturday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $113.88.

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The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company engages in the manufacture, marketing, and sale of products for lawn, garden care, and indoor and hydroponic gardening in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: U.S. Consumer, Hawthorne, and Other. It provides lawn care products comprising lawn fertilizers, grass seed products, spreaders, other durable products, and outdoor cleaners, as well as lawn-related weed, pest, and disease control products; gardening and landscape products include water-soluble and continuous-release plant foods, potting mixes and garden soils, mulch and decorative groundcover products, plant-related pest and disease control products, organic garden products, and lives goods and seeding solutions.

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Swiss National Bank Grows Stock Holdings in The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (NYSE:SMG) - Defense World